How to Handle Difficult Accents and Overcome Language Barriers in Virtual Teams

A language barrier can start out as simply irritating, but it can escalate to the point where it gets in the way of the motivation and contribution level of a brilliant expert, causing miscommunication and leaving out potentially successful ideas.
1. Speak slowly - use globally understood English, more pictures, less text, no idioms, and be aware of jargon.
2. Check understanding regularly.
3. Repeat and summarize - capture summary in the chat.
4. Make sure everyone contributes - this was a key distinction found in successful groups according to a Google study.
5. Praise contribution.
6. Encourage meta-communication - talking about mutual feelings, common goals, asking about the team’s why.
7. Wait before asking your question: - write it up and ask it in the chat first.
8. Ask for clarification.
9. Use more pictures and humor to keep your team engaged.
10. Use multiple channels for communication such as posting the agenda, summarizing discussion, and email.
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